Fertility, Biology, and Behavior: An Analysis of the Proximate Determinants

TLDR

The book examines the proximate determinants of natural fertility, serving as a resource for reproductive physiologists, social scientists, demographers, statisticians, biologists, and graduate students. It covers biological and behavioral mechanisms of fertility across nine chapters, including socioeconomic influences, age‑specific marital rates, cross‑country total fertility trends, contraceptive and abortion control, and sex‑composition management and birth spacing.

Abstract

Fertility, Biology, and Behavior: An Analysis of the Proximate Determinants presents the proximate determinants of natural fertility. This book discusses the biological and behavioral dimensions of human fertility that are linked to intermediate fertility variables. Organized into nine chapters, this book begins with an overview of the mechanisms through which socioeconomic variables influence fertility. This text then examines the absolute and relative age-specific marital fertility rates of selected populations. Other chapters consider the trends in total fertility rates of selected countries, including Colombia, Kenya, Korea, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, France, and United States. This book discusses as well the effects of deliberate marital fertility control through contraception and induced abortion. The final chapter deals with the management of sex composition and implications for birth spacing. This book is a valuable resource for reproductive physiologists, social scientists, demographers, statisticians, biologists, and graduate students with an interest in the biological and behavioral control of human fertility.